EDUCATION | DIAMOND KNOWLEDGE & SUPPORT

Diamond Education

Would you like some guidance before you start diamond shopping? The diamond guide provides some basics, including an explanation of the Four C's: Colour, Cut, Clarity, Carat Weight. Along with additional information about: Fancy Diamonds, Ethical Sourcing and How To Take Care of Diamonds.

What is a Diamond? What makes a diamond so special? A diamond is the only gemstone made of a single element: carbon. Diamond is typically about 99.95 percent carbon. The other 0.05 percent can include one or more trace elements, atoms that are not carbon and not part of a diamond’s essential chemistry. Some of those elements can influence a diamond’s colour or shape.

The Four C’s

The Four C’s that describe and classify diamonds are: clarity, colour, cut and carat weight.

Colour Many people incorrectly believe that all diamonds are colourless, and are surprised to learn that diamonds actually come in a wide range of colours. Diamonds that range in hue from colourless to light yellow and brown fall within the normal colour range. Within the normal colour range, colourless diamonds are the most rare, and therefore they are also the most valuable. The most desirable diamonds are colourless because the absence of the colour yellow enhances the diamond's ability to reflect the colours of the rainbow. The less colour a diamond has, the higher its colour grade. At Raffi Jewellers, you’ll find only the finest diamonds, with colour grades from D-J. Diamonds graded J or better are colourless or near-colourless, with colour that is typically undetectable to the unaided eye. The scale begins with the letter D, representing colourless, and continues with each letter reflecting an increasing presence of colour, up to the letter Z, which represents near-colourless. Each letter grade has a clearly defined range of colour appearance. Diamonds are colour-graded by individually comparing each stone to other stones of known colour, under controlled lighting and precise viewing conditions. In the normal colour range, the closer a diamond gets to colourless, the higher its per-carat price. There's an especially large leap in the price of a colourless diamond, which is extremely rare.

Cut Cut does not refers to the symmetry, proportioning and polish of a diamond. The cut of a diamond greatly impacts the brilliance of a diamond. So even if all the other 4C’s are graded perfect, if the cut is bad, it will gleam less. For this reason, many gemologists consider cut quality to be the most important diamond characteristic. Each facet in a well-cut diamond contributes its share of optical magic. They work together like a tiny set of mirrors to interact with light and create the gem's face-up appearance. Contributing to that interaction are the diamond's basic proportions and the precision of its facets. Every angle and every facet affects the amount of light returned or lost. The cut-grading system for standard round brilliant diamonds in all clarities across the D-to-Z colour range include one of five cut grades: Excellent (Ex), Very Good (Vg), Good (G), Fair (F) and Poor (P). Excellent    Very Good Good    Fair   Poor

Every proportion of a round brilliant diamond contributes to its complex interaction with light. A well-cut diamond can make light perform in breathtaking ways, creating a display of three important diamond attributes: brilliance, fire and scintillation. Brilliance is the combination of all the white light reflections from the surface and the inside of a diamond. Fire is the word for the flashes of colour you see inside a diamond. Scintillation describes the flashes of light you see when the diamond, the light, or the observer moves.


When a ray of white light enters into a diamond, it begins to separate in to its spectral colours. The farther the dispersed travel within the diamond, the wider their spread (right image). When white light enters a diamond at a shallow angle, it begins to disperse immediately. If it strikes across a facet junction, it bounces off in more than one direction. This can increase the amount of fire displayed by a diamond. 

When a diamond is cut with the proper proportions, light is returned out of the top of the diamond (which gemologists refer to as the crown). If a diamond is cut too shallow, light leaks out of the bottom; if it is cut too deep, light escapes out of the sides, making the diamond look dark and unattractive. Diamonds that are well-cut make better use of light and will be bright, fiery and sparkling. 

Lighting can affect a diamond's display of fire, Fluorescent lighting (left) suppresses fire, while incandescent lighting (center) emphassizes it. When the lighting is mixed (right), there's more balance between brightness and fire.

The word “cut” refers to a gem’s proportions and finish, but it can also refer to shape and cutting style. Shape refers to the face-up outline of a gem (such as round, emerald, or pear), and cutting style is the arrangement of facets.


THE MOST FREQUENT MISTAKES IN CUT

AN INCORRECT NUMBER OF FACETS: A round brilliant diamond has 57 facets. Experience has shown that this is the most effective number to optimize the reflection of the light.  Having a greater number of facets does not produce a diamond of higher quality. In fact, increasing the number of facets reduces the brilliance.

EXCESSIVE WEIGHT: Contrary to popular belief, excessive weight reduces the aesthetic appeal of a diamond. Since the number of carats is often considered to be the most important criterion with regard to a diamond’s value, one common trick is to leave too thick a girdle. This gives the diamond additional carat weight and therefore, a stone that commands a higher price. Unfortunately, the extra weight also considerably diminishes the brilliance and beauty of the stone.

THE “LARGE ANGLE” EFFECT: When a diamond is given a flat cut and too large a table, the stone is dulled. Even worse, it produces an unattractive large angle effect across the crown.

THE “NAIL HEAD” EFFECT: If the cut of a diamond is too deep, a dark nail head may appear in the center of the stone.

Clarity

Clarity refers to the degree to which a diamond is free of what are called inclusions and blemishes. Whether these imperfections are called inclusions or blemishes depends upon their location. Inclusions are enclosed within a gemstone, or extend from a diamond’s interior to its surface. Blemishes are confined to the gemstone’s surface. Together, inclusions and blemishes are called clarity characteristics. Diamonds with the fewest number and smallest imperfections receive the highest clarity grades. Because these imperfections tend to be microscopic, they do not generally affect a diamond's beauty in any discernible way.There is a strong relationship between clarity, rarity and value. Flawless diamonds are many times more valuable than diamonds with just one or two small clarity characteristics.

 


 

As clarity increases, and if all other value factors are equal, diamond price per carat also increases.


THE MOST OBVIOUS FLAWS

CLOUDING: Milky clouding can produce a dull stone. The degree of penetration into the diamond affects the overall purity of the stone.

SUBSTANTIAL CRYSTALLIZATION: All natural diamonds, even the best stones, have a slight internal crystallization: a mark that occurs as the crystal forms. However, substantial crystallization constitutes a considerable flaw on the surface and sometimes within the depths of the diamond. It is manifested by the appearance of veins, waves or minuscule cracks.

NODES: It is not unusual to see a diamond crystal, or node, within the diamond, which reaches up to the surface of the stone.

NATURALS: Some gem cutters leave a part of the original surface of the crystal in its rough state when cutting the facets of a diamond. These parts are called “naturals,” and they can change the appearance of the diamond.


Carat Weight

Just as a dollar is divided into 100 pennies, a carat is divided into 100 points. For example, a 50-point diamond weighs 0.50 carats. But two diamonds of equal weight can be of very different monetary values, depending on how they are graded in terms of the other three members of the Four C’s: clarity, colour and cut. Because even a fraction of a carat can make a considerable difference in cost, precision is crucial.  In the diamond industry, weight is often measured to the hundred thousandths of a carat, and rounded to a hundredth of a carat. Diamond weights greater than one carat are expressed in carats and decimals. For instance, a 1.08 ct. stone would be described as “one point oh eight carats,” or “one oh eight.” 



In diamonds that are equal in every other way, value increases as size increases. At certain weight boundaries, called "magic sizes," value increases dramatically. This is especially true at the magic one-carat size.


Fancy Diamonds

Only one in 10,000 diamonds possesses natural colour and is referred to as a fancy coloured diamond. Due to the rarity of fancy-coloured diamonds, they are usually purchased based on their basic hue such as pink, yellow, red, etc. The second characteristic is their intensity. Typically, the more intense the colour, the more rare and the more valuable a fancy coloured diamond will be. Fancy-coloured diamonds are naturally coloured yellow and brown diamonds that exhibit colour beyond the Z range, or that exhibit any other colour face-up. Fancy-coloured diamonds come in almost any colour you can imagine. The most rare coloured diamonds are red, green, purple and orange, followed by pink and blue. Yellow and browns are the most common fancy colour. The value of fancy-coloured diamonds generally increases with the strength and purity of the colour. Fancy colour diamonds are graded in order of increasing intensity on a scale that is as follows from least to most intense:  Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Dark, Fancy Deep and Fancy Vivid. The stronger the hue of the diamond, the more rare and valuable it is.

Blue Diamond

Green Diamond

Pink Diamond

Yellow Diamond

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Ethical Sourcing At Raffi Jewellers, we want our customers to feel good about their diamond purchases. The diamonds we sell are of certified origin and are obtained through suppliers that adhere to and enforce the standards established by the Kimberley Process and the System of Warranties, a global initiative that ensures diamonds are ethically sourced and sold. Raffi Jewellers’ diamonds are individually tracked through a chain-of-custody system to ensure that ethical practices are used in mining, cutting and polishing in accordance with the Kimberley Process, which adheres to mandates established by the United Nations. To learn more about the Kimberley Process, please visit the following website: http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/.

Raffi Jewellers also provides clients with the finest quality diamonds from the Canadian Arctic mines. These diamonds are ethically mined, fully certified and laser-engraved with individual tracking numbers. This means that the diamond you buy can be traced back to the mine and through all stages of the refinement process, and it also ensures that the diamond is certified as being of Canadian origin.  Diamonds purchased at Raffi Jewellers that are over a certain carat weight are accompanied by a grading certificate from one of the most reputable and internationally respected gemological grading laboratories: • GIA (Gemological Institute of America) • HRD Antwerp (Diamond High Council) • AGS (American Gem Society) • GS (Gem Scan Laboratories) • EGL (European Gemological Laboratory) How To Take Care of Diamonds The hardness of a gemstone is a measure of its resistance to scratches.  A diamond is the hardest gemstone on the earth and can scratch another diamond and any other natural material on earth. Therefore, when storing diamond jewellery, always keep it separate from other pieces so that they are protected. Diamonds require care to keep them looking their best and to protect them from damage or loss. The smallest amount of grease on the surface of a stone can dull its reflection. We recommend that you bring the diamond jewellery you purchased from Raffi Jewellers to one of our locations for a complimentary professional cleaning and to ensure that the stones are secure in their settings. Cleaning Tips: To keep your diamonds clean in between visits, mix some mild liquid detergent with water and apply with a soft, natural bristle brush. Rinse with fresh water and dry with a lint-free cloth. Avoid applying hand cream while wearing jewellery. The cream can create grease on the surface of a stone and prevent it from looking brilliant.